On 17th January, H.E.Ambassador PANG Sen met with Dr. Rabiei, Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare at his request. Mr. Farazandeh, Director General of East Asia & Oceania Department of Foreign Ministry, the Ambassadors of South Korea and Japan to Iran attended the meeting. Dr. Rabiei expressed his sincere gratitude to China and the other two countries for the relentless search-and-rescue operations carried out for "Sanchi" oil tanker, and submitted thanks notes to the three Ambassadors.

Ambassador Pang sincerely lamented the deaths of the crew members of "Sanchi" oil tanker once again, and introduced the search-and-rescue operations carried out by China. He revealed that the sunken tanker has been positioned and an underwater robot will carry out further investigation. Ambassador Pang also reiterated the willingness to keep close communication and cooperation with Iranian counterparts for coping with the aftermath of this incident.